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Animal Farm: Structural-Functionalism

1538 Words7 Pages

Tre’jon Woodley
Ms. Johnson
Animal Farm
09 November 2016
Animal Farm
Structural-Functionalism: Is a theory that sees society as a complex system whose parts work together to promote solidarity and stability. In the book Animal Farm the animals begin to feel as if their owner is not treating them properly, so they put together a plan to get rid of the owner Mr. Jones. The main reason the animals planed to get rid of Mr. Jones is because they believed that they could do better without him in control. In the book the leaders seemed to be the pigs seeing as how they seemed to be the most intelligent of all the animals on the farm, so this basically puts them in the position to make the decisions for the rest of the animals. In being in control …show more content…

In this case all of the animals minus the sheep do not fit into the realm of conformity. The majority of the animals do not fall into that realm because they are rebellious towards the pigs and want to be in control of their own plans and decisions. While that is the case for most of the animals the sheep are more naive and in return they follow along with the pigs plan with no attempt to take control for themselves. Seeing how the dogs were seen as outsiders, their presents made the other animals fear that if they interacted with them then they would be considered outsiders as …show more content…

The first three definitions I used were Structural Functionalism, Social Conflict, and Symbolic Interaction. The three definitions seemed to be prevalent throughout the book. I feel as if the animals took on a human role which would represent Symbolic Interaction. In the book there was a lot of social conflict visible and showed how the animals looked at the human race. The whole time the animals were fighting to be in power over the humans but in turn began fighting for power amongst each other, leading to a struggle for power to see should be in control of their society. In the book Animal Farm Napoleon played the “Structural Functionalist” role because he saw the farm as a complex system whose parts could eventually work together to promote solidarity and stability. In the book on page three it says that “Man is the only creature that consumes without producing” this seems to cause more social conflict because the animals feel like the the humans should be producing something for them since they are producing pretty much everything for

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This point is evident from the way the other animals comply with the alterations the pigs make according to their ever-changing values and beliefs. This compliance from the farm animals could be traced back to their lack of intelligence. The pigs have not only learned to read and write like Man, but to also control and manipulate the farm animals into doing as they please, just as Man did. Other animals on the farm were not capable of adapting to the human language as quickly as the pigs, which led them to become inferior and conforming individuals of the farmhouse. Their lack of intelligence, critical thinking and autonomy of all of the farm animals, excluding the pigs, led to the overexploitation and conformity they displayed and endured.

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A necessity to ensure an ideal and functional community, as demonstrated in George Orwell 's 1945 novel Animal Farm, is the ability to detect and prevent corrupt conduct, read, and the will to challenge authority, which the animals do not possess, therefore putting them at major fault. One of the main factors that leads to the downfall of the farm and Animalism itself is the blatant stupidity that the animals, excluding the pigs, possess. They are overly dense to the point where the concept of corruption is near unfathomable, and thus cannot detect it or act upon their suspicions. Their willingness to believe Squealer 's persuasive speeches whenever doubt arises indicate that the animals are unable to think for themselves. “The other animals understood how to vote, but could never think of any resolutions of their own” (Orwell 19).

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Animal Farm shows that many forms of government, such as a democracy and dictatorship, while often successful, also have their flaws and weaknesses. Mr. Jones rules Manor Farm as a dictator and the animals don’t like that so they rebel and set up a democracy. This works successfully for a while until one group, the pigs, start to exert control over the other animals. With this act the pigs demonstrate that having one group in charge of the others will eventually make the government fail and cause turmoil. The farm’s new democracy morphs over time into the old form of government, a

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Last night, I read your article about Animal Farm and I just wanted to comment on some of your ideas about the novel. I found your claim very interesting, and I enjoyed it very well. Before reading your writing I had no opinion about the book, I just read it like an assignment. However, after reading your passage about “Animal Farm”, I went through it again just to make sure if my opinion was the same as yours or if I had a different thought about your claim.

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Power can have the persuasive action in undoing the moral ethics of one’s character. This can be seen throughout history, such as World War II and proven by the actions of Napoleon in the allegory, Animal Farm, by George Orwell. As Lord Acton said “Power tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely.” In history what was viewed as a villain, is never the same as the perception. A leader does not begin wanting to do wrong, they start with the best intentions, but power is a tricky thing.

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